Means for closing cans



l(No Model.)

P. BABGOOK, Jr,

MBAES FOB. CLOSING SANS. Nm 32h-BSB. 'Pat-anta@ Judy Tf,

'UNITED STATESY PATENT rricn.

PAUL BABCOCK, JR., OF MONTCLAIR, NEWT JERSEY.

MEANS F OR CLOSING CAMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 321,568, dated July 7, 1885.

(No model.)

To aib whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PAUL BABoooK, J r., of Montclair, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Means for Closing Cans, of which the following is aspecification. A

My invention is intended more particularly for sheetinetal cans, suchl as are employed in shipping oil orkerosene; but the invention is also applicable to cans for containing other liquids. In cans for oil it has been customary to form in the head of the can a large pouring or lling hole, and, after the can is iilled, to solder over and around this hole a circular top, closing piece, or cover, of zinc, thin sheettin, or other metal, having upon it a circular projection, to which a cap is applied. This cap is ordinarily screw-threaded to it a screwthread spun or formed in the closing piece or cover, and when the can is shipped this clos ing piece or cover is entirely imperforate and hermeticall y seals the can, the cap being screwed on or applied to its exterior. Vhen the can is to be opened and its contents used, a circular hole is cut in the closing piece or cover, which may be readily done by a knife, because of the soft or thin metal of which the cover is made, and thereafter the can may he closed by the screw-cap which is applied to it; hence it will be seen that ordinarily when a can is closed and shipped it is hermetically sealed by one very thin thickness of sheet metal, and if this becomes punctured or i'ractured either by reason of the metal crackingl when the screw-th read is spun or formed upon it or by reason of its rusting away,or from any other cause, there will he a leakage, as the oil swashes back and forth in the can during a voyage or in the handling.

The object of my invention is to provide a means for closing cans which shall. afford the same facility for opening them by readily cutting the metal with a knife, and which shall afford greater security against any leakage.

To this end the invention consists in the combination, with a can having a pouring or filling hole in its head, ot' a closing piece or cover soldered to the head around the pouring or filling hole, and having a circular projection, on which a cap is secured, and the top vof which is iinperforate, and also having a hase portion which is imperforate, both the top of the circular projection and the base portion being of thin metal, so that they may be readily cut with a knife, and forming between them an intervening space. Vhen the can is thus closed, there can no leakage occur, even if the top of the closing-piere or its circular projection be fractured by spinning the thread thereon or otherwise, because the base portion of the closingpiece which is imper.

tion of the closing-piece alone, and Fig. 5 represents a sectional View similar to Fig. 2, and showing a closing-piece which has a plain circular projection without a screw-thread and aplain cap with a straight rino applied thereto.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

A designates a portion of the head of a can, which may be made of tin Vor other sheet metal, and in which is a large filling-hole, a. In the head of the can around the filling-hole is a circular indentation, ci', whereon is secured a closing piece or cover, B.

In making the closing-piece or cover B, I first take a circular piece of sheet metal and strike it up into the form shown in Fig. 3, with a downwardly and outwardly flaring dange, b, and a circular upward projection, b. The top b of this closing-piece will be imperforate, and I may form therein an annular groove, which constitutes a guide for cutting out the top by means of a knife when it is desired to open the can. The closing piece also comprises a base portion, B', which consisis of a circular piece of metal slightly longer in diameter than the piece B, and struck up to give it the form shown in Fig. 4, it having an outwardly and downwardly daring flange, b3. In the top of this hase portion B', I also may forni a circular groove or indentation, i

which forms a guide for the knife in cutting out the base portion when it is desired to open the can. The circular projection b may have formed in it a portion of a screwthread,which may be done by spinning, and which is shown in Figsl, 2, and 3,and to such projection is applied a screw-threaded cap, C, which is shown in Fig. 1, and which is composed of thicker metal. The pieces B B', which constitute the closingpiece for the can, should be made of taggers tin77 or other thin metal, which may be tiealdily cut by a knife or other sharp-edged In licu of making the circular projection b with a screw-thread it may have a plain cylindric exterior, as shown in Fig. 5, and in such case the cap C would have a straight cy- ]indric rim.

The two pieces B B which constitute the closing-pieces are preferably combined together, as shown in Figs. l, 2, and 5,the outer edge of the portion B being folded over and inward upon the outer edge of the portion B. After the can is filled the closing-piece B B is placed in theindentation a', around the fillinghole a, and is tightly secured to the can-head A by solder. The cap C is screwed upon or slipped over the circular portion ofthe closingpiece B B. It will therefore be seen that in the closing-piece B B are two portions of thin met-al,which must be cut in order to open the can, and which form between them an intervening space, B. If the portionB of the closingpiece be fractured or perforated in any way by reason of the metal breaking while forming thescrew-thread upon it,or from any other cause, there will be no opening into the can, because the can will be hermetically closed by the imperforate base portion B of the closingpiece; or, in like manner, if the base portion B be accidentally perforated the top b2 of the portion B will remain imperforate and will maintain the can hermetically sealed.

vWhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination, with a can-head having in it a filling-hole, of a closing-piece comprising a portion, B, formed with a circular projection, upon which is fitted a cap and a base portion, B, the top of the circular projection and the base portion being of thin metal, so that they may be readily cut away, and forming between them an intervening space, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

PAUL BABCOCK, JR.

Vitnesses:

C. HALL, FREDK. HAYNEs. 

